USA > California > A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of northern California, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 84
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its borders throughout an active and useful career. For many years he was a prominent educator in Sussex county. His son, Elijah Wrenn, was born in that county on the 17th of November. 1796, and when he had attained his majority he married Martha Draper, also a native of Virginia. He was a carriage manufacturer and he represented a family of Quaker faitl. Mr. Wrenn had five children, three of whom are living. In 1830 they emi- grated to Ohio and subsequently took up their abode in Indiana, where Mr. Wrenn spent his remaining days, dying in January, 1891, at the advanced age of ninety-five years, and his widow now being a resident of Noblesville, that state, and now in her eighty-eighth year.
The Doctor was educated in Indiana and Ohio, completing his profes- sional training in the Medical College of Ohio. He began the practice of his profession in Anderson and for ten years was a practitioner in Cincinnati. The year 1886 witnessed his arrival in Placerville, where he has enjoyed a well earned success in the line of his profession, building up a large and lucra- tive practice. He was the superintendent of the county hospital for eight years and has long been accorded a foremost place as a representative of the medical fraternity of Eldorado county. He is a physician of pronounced ability, who has strict regard for the ethics of the professional code and who through the years of his practice has kept in touch with the progress made by the profession. He has a nice residence in the town and is the owner of valuable mining interests in this county.
In 1867 Dr. Wrenn was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha A. Mills, a daughter of John Metsker. Their union was blessed with one son, whom they named John M. He became a young man of splendid promise and was engaged in the study of medicine in the University of California when he was stricken with spinal meningitis, the disease terminating his life. The mother had died during the early childhood of her son and thus the Doctor was left alone. In 1875 he was again married, his second union being with Miss Margaret Elizabeth Kaiser, a native of Bavaria. She came to the United States when six years of age, became a graduate of the Woman's Hospital Medical College, of New York, and had practiced her profession with much ability. A noble woman and a devoted wife and mother, her life was an unalloyed benediction to all who knew her. By their marriage she had two children, a daughter and son. The son, Joseph T., is now a student of the University of California; Florence, who when attending the Oakland high school was attacked by typhoid fever. She was a bright, beautiful and interesting young lady but death claimed her. The mother departed this life in 1898, her loss being deeply mourned.
Dr. Wrenn was schooled in the Republican party, his father being one of its founders and a man who had pronounced views and always took a deep interest in the principles which the party advocated, but he was not an office- seeker. Like his father, Dr. Wrenn has been an active worker in the Repub- lican ranks and has never sought office. However, being a bimetalist. Dr Wrenn could no longer affiliate with their party, and since 1896 has been a warm admirer and supporter of William J. Bryan. He is not a member of
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any church or any secret or fraternal order, but is a humane and moral man, having strong convictions in all matters of vital interest concerning the prog- ress and elevation of the race.
MATTHEW F. JOHNSON.
Judge Matthew Fontaine Johnson, at the time of his recent death, occu- pied the bench of the second district of the superior court of California, and as a lawyer and judge he stood among the foremost. It requires unusual qualities of mind, heart and character to rise into conspicuous prominence as a member of a judiciary like that of California, which has contained and still contains some of the most brilliant men that the legal profession has ever produced, and to do so ought to be sufficient to satisfy the greatest ambition. The profession and the public acknowledge that Julge Johnson was eminently qualified for the high position named and upon the rolls of California's judi- cial history his name is deeply and honorably engraved.
A native of Hempstead county, Arkansas, he was born December 31, 1844. a son of James G. Johnson, who was born in Maine and became a min- ister of the Presbyterian church. He was also a successful teacher, and along the lines of intellectual and moral progress his efforts were most effective and beneficial. His father, Samuel Johnson, was a native of Scotland and served under General Jackson in Florida throughout the Seminole war. He married Miss Moody, who was born in the north of Scotland. Their family included Rev. James G. Johnson, who on attaining his majority married Miss Paulina K. Fontaine. His death occurred in Fulton, California, at the age of sixty-three, and his wife, who was born in Arkansas, died in Lake county, California, at the age of fifty-one years. They became the parents of eight children, six of whom are yet living, two being successful teachers in Sacra- mento. Mrs. Johnson was a daughter of Matthew Fontaine, and her mother in her maidenhood bore the family name of Johnson. She was a native of Ken- tucky, while Mr. Fontaine was born in Virginia, and both spent their last days Arkansas. He belongs to one of the old historic families of France, con- nected with the Huguenots, and was a cousin of Commodore Fontaine.
Judge Johnson was born on the old family farmstead in Arkansas and came with his parents to California in 1852. His preliminary education was acquired in the common schools and was supplemented by a course in the Methodist Episcopal college in Vacaville, California, which he entered at the age of sixteen years. He was graduated in 1865 and afterward engaged in teaching for a year. On the expiration of that period he came to Sacra- mento and took up the study of law. under the direction of Mr. Cofforth, a prominent legist of this city. In 1867 he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court, and the following year, when General Joe Ilamilton was made attorney general of California, the subject of this sketch was appointed dep- uty in his office. When General Hamilton was again elected to the position, in 1875. he once more served as deputy, during the latter part of the second term. Hle has served as a member of the board of education and also a
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term as trustee of the state library and was one of the freeholders who framed the present Sacramento city charter. He was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Judge Van Fleet on the bench of the superior court. At that term he filled the office for four years and was then re-elected and was serving his second term at the time of his death, June 30, 1900. Judge Johnson was always a Democrat in his political affiliations, casting his first presidential vote for Seymour in 1868. He was a veteran member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also belonged to the Ancient Order of Druids, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In his religious faith he was a Methodist. On the bench he won a most envia- ble reputation. His decisions were models of perspicuity, of judicial learning and fairness. Ready at all times faithfully to discharge all the obligations of life, whatever they might be, he was exemplary in his private career and the the soul of honor and fidelity in official positions.
In 1871 he was married to Miss Clara J. Jones, who, with her two daugh- ers,-Rita Emily and Pauline Fontaine,-survive him.
WESLEY SMITH MANN.
A record as a gallant soldier, an efficient and faithful public official and an upright and progressive citizen, fully meets the requirements of the best order of Americanism. Such a record has been made by Wesley Smith Mann, of Modesto, Stanislaus county, California, who was born on his father's farm in Hendricks county, Indiana, October 28, 1845, a son of Frederick and Elizabeth ( Moore) Mann. The Manns are an old family in Scotland, whence came Mr. Mann's grandfather in the paternal line, who settled in North Carolina, where was born Frederick Mann, who early in life emi- grated to Marion county, Indiana, where he died at the age of eighty-three years. His wife, also of Scotch ancestry, departed this life in the sixty- fourth year of her age. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and were of the highest character and respectability. Of their ten children six are living,-four in Indiana, one in Texas and one in California.
Wesley Smith Mann was brought up on his father's farm in Indiana and secured the basis of his education in the public schools near his home. He was only sixteen years old when President Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers to put down the slaveholders' rebellion. The following year the great magnitude of the strife and the imperative need for more soldiers impelled him, a boy of seventeen though he was, to bear arms in defense of his country's honor, and he enlisted in Company .A. Fifty-third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, February 6, 1862, and served through the war by re-enlistment after the expiration of his first term of service. Ile was first in battle at Shiloh, and after that fought at Corinth, Matamora Heights and at Vicksburg, where he received a ball in the arm June 27, 1863, which he carries to this day. He participated in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, where Sherman's army was repulsed June 27. 1864, and he was taken prisoner by the enemy. Only thirty-two members of his company
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were in this engagement, in which the first and second lieutenants were both killed. With his captain and the remnant of his company Mr. Mann endured the horrors of six months' incarceration in the Andersonville prison pen. After his parole he returned home for a time to recuperate and then rejoined his regi- ment and had the honor of participating in the grand review at Washington, D. C., of the victorious army of the republic. After that he went with his regiment to Louisville, Kentucky, where its members received an honorable discharge from the service, and he was mustered out at Indianapolis, Indiana, and returned home with the proud record of a veteran and a victor completed while he was yet in his twentieth year.
After the war Mr. Mann took up farming in Indiana, and in 1866 he went to Kansas, where he successfully continued in agriculture until 1874. when he came to Stanislaus county, California. For five years afterward he resided at Tuolumne City, managed a ferry for four years and then com- menced banking, which he pursued for sixteen years. In 1896 he took up his residence at Modesto, where he opened a cash grocery, an enterprise which has been so prosperous as to place him among the prominent business men of the town. He was elected one of the trustees of the city in 1898 and filled the office with so much ability and devotion to the interests of the people that he was re-elected in 1900. He is a member of both branches of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he and his wife and daughters are members of the associate order of Rebekah. He is the present chief patri- arch of his encampment. He has been an enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic, always active in its work and helpful to all its interests.
While a resident of Kansas, Mr. Mann married Miss Rose M. Schu- maker, a native of Iowa, and they have had three daughters: Ettie, who mar- ried George Armstrong, of Stanislaus county : Ida, who is Mrs. . \. J. Saferite, of Stanislaus county : and Lotta, who married S. C. Geer, of Stanislaus. Mr. and Mrs. Mann have a pleasant home at Modesto and enjoy the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances.
RICHARD BENJAMIN PURVIS.
Missouri, which during recent years has come to the front as one of the great states of the Union, has, during the formative period of its his- tory and later, supplied many valuable citizens to California. Richard Benja- man Purvis, the sheriff of Stanislaus county, is one of the most prominent citizens of Modesto. He was born in Callaway comty, Missouri, September 15. 1844, and is descended from Scotch-English ancestors, who settled early in Virginia. His parents. Nicholas and Elizabeth ( Sterns) Purvis, were born and married in Virginia, and in 1841 went with their six children to Missouri and were among the early settlers in Callaway county, where they made a large farm and became successful agriculturists and lived out their days, Mr. Purvis dying at about the age of fifty years, while Mrs, Purvis lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years, dying in 1883. Their deaths were deeply regretted by all who had known them as active members of the
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Baptist church and people of the highest and most admirable character. Three children were added to their family after they removed to Missouri, increas- ing the total number to nine, of whom six are now living, including the subject of this sketch, who is the only member of his family in California.
When Mr. Purvis came to California he was only nineteen years old. He farmed for a year in Napa county and in 1864 went to Idaho and mined near Idaho City in 1865 and 1866, but with only moderate success. Return ing to Napa county, he remained there until 1870, when he came to Stanis laus county, where his enterprise as a farmer was richly rewarded. As he prospered he bought more and more land from time to time until he owned an aggregate of eight hundred and nine acres, which he brought to a high state of cultivation and improvement, building on it a good residence and adequate farm buildings, and on which he lived until 1884. when the Democ- racy of Stanislaus county nominated him for the office of sheriff, for which his upright and resolute character peculiarly fitted him and for which he had had some training, when. as a boy, he had seen dangerous service in the Confederate cause under General Sterling Price. Two years of frontier war- fare, in which he had many times risked his life, always coming out unscathed. gave him confidence to pit himself against the criminal and lawless element of Stanislaus county. He was elected and filled the office with so much ability and success that he has been six times re-elected to succeed himself. His work in ridding the county of bad men and in establishing and maintaining law and order was most effective, and very much that would be interesting might be written about his experiences in an official capacity.
Mr. Purvis has been a valued member of the Masonic fraternity since 1873. when he was received as an Entered Apprentice, passed the Fellow Craft degree and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. Later he took the degrees of capitular Masonry and was exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason, and in 1890 he took the degrees of chivalric Masonry and was constituted, created and dubbed a Knight Templar. He is also an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias; and not only is he popular in all the orders mentioned but is also esteemed as one of Stanislaus county's most use- ful and prominent citizens, for his public spirit has impelled him at all times to aid to the extent of his ability every movement promising to benefit his fellow men.
He was happily married, in 1876, to Miss Jennie Philips, a native of the state of New York, an influential member of the Christian church and a woman of much education and refinement, and their home at Modesto is noted for its hearty and genial hospitality.
M. V. MANN.
M. V. Mann, who is now practically engaged in the undertaking business at Oakdale, was born in West Monroe, Oswego county, New York. January 5, 1836, and his Scotch ancestry were early settlers of the Empire state. His father, Moses T. Mann, married Miss Abigail Paine, also a native of New
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York and a daughter of Thomas Paine, a Revolutionary soldier, who was born in Scotland and became one of the early settlers of the state in which her birth occurred. Two of their sons and a nephew fought in the Union army in the Civil war. With his family Moses T. Mann removed to Wisconsin in 1855. and in 1858 went to Kansas, locating in the Miami reservation, where he remained throughout the troublesome times that preceded the rebellion. His good wife departed this life at the advanced age of ninety-three, and he was ninety-five years of age when called to his final rest. Throughout his life he was a strong temperance man and served as president of the Temperance Society in New York. His total-abstinence principles were undoubtedly one of the means of prolonging his life. He was a thoroughly reliable and worthy citizen and enjoyed and merited the respect of all with whom he was asso- ciated. Of the Methodist church his wife was a consistent member. They became the parents of thirteen children, eight of whom are living, and with one exception all reached years of maturity. One of the sons, A. J. Mann, is now a resident of Oakdale.
MI. V. Mann, whose name introduces this record, acquired his education in the public schools of New York, but his privileges were limited and the greater part of his knowledge has been obtained through reading, observation and experience. He arrived in Los Angeles, California, on the 10th of May, 1861. He followed mining in Nevada, also worked at farming and did car- pentering for a time, and in October of the same year became a resident of Stanislaus county. However, he afterward engaged for some years in sheep- raising in the southern part of the state and found that industry a very profit- able one. For a long period he engaged in farming on Sherman's island, but a flood caused him to leave that place and in 1870 he returned to Stanislaus county, taking up his abode on a farm a half mile south of Oakdale, where he remained for two years. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode in this city, invested in town lots, erected a store building and embarked in the grocery business, which he continued until 1888. He then sold out and after a short time opened a cigar and stationery store, which he carried on for two years, when, in 1890. he again took up the farming business, which he successfully followed for three years and then devoted his time to carpentering in Oakdale until the spring of 1897. He then launched in the undertaking bus- iness in Oakdale, becoming the manager for Howe & Smallwood, where he continued until July, 1899, when he purchased their business and became the sole proprietor and manager. He keeps a good stock of undertaking supplies and has the entire business of the county over a radius of fifteen miles.
Mr. Mann was married on the 24th of December, 1861, to Miss Ellen Rodgers, a native of Virginia and a daughter of Hayden Rodgers, who came to California in 1853. They lost their only child. Mr. Mann is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he has been identified since 1880, and in both its branches he has filled all the chairs. He was made a Master Mason in Oakdale Lodge, No. 275, and is an exemplary representative of that organization. He has twice served as master and was presented by the lodge with a splendid past master's jewel, which he prizes very
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highly. He is in thorough sympathy with the work of the craft, which is based upon the underlying principles of mutual helpfulness, benevolence and brotherly kindliness. Since 1856, when he cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, he has been a loyal Republican and is a citizen who is true to all interests that are calculated to promote the welfare and progress of the town and county with which he is identified. His has been an upright career, worthy of public confidence, and his circle of friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
WILLIAM H. PROUTY.
A witness of the great changes which have been wrought in California since the early mining days, when the discovery of gold attracted to the Pacific slope men of all nationalities and positions who sought fortunes in this sec- tion, William Henry Prouty has been numbered among the residents of Ama- dor county since August, 1852. This county at the time formed a part of Cala- veras county.
He is a native of Knox county, Ohio, born on the 27th of March, 1837, and on the paternal side is of Scotch and French ancestry, while on the maternal side he is of German lineage. He represents the fifth generation of the family born in America. His great-grandfather, Tirus Prouty, emigrated from France and located in New York, where the grandfather and the father of our subject, the latter Anson T. Prouty, was born and reared. For many years Anson T. Prouty resided in the Empire state, taking a prominent part in its public affairs, while other members of the family also aided in promoting the substantial upbuilding of the sections of the state in which they resided. Two of his uncles participated in the war of the Revolution : and Hugh Prouty. another uncle, served in the war of 1812. The religious faith of the family has been that of the Methodist church; the business of its representatives has been farming or a profession.
Anson T. Prouty was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Helms, a native of Pennsylvania and a descendant of an old German family that was early founded in the new world. Her father was Charles Helms. By her marriage Mrs. Prouty became the mother of seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom four are now living. In 1852 the parents with their children started on the long journey across the plains to California. For five years pre- viously they had resided in Iowa, where the father had located land now occu- pied by Newton, the county seat of Jasper county. On the 20th of April they left their Iowa home, crossing the river near Omaha, on the 9th of May. The country to the westward was a vast open waste, traversed by the Indians. After the party had passed Fort Laramie cholera broke out among them and many died. The Prouty family suffered the terrible affliction of losing the hus- band and father, who was ill for only one day when death claimed him. The mother and children, however, escaped the dread disease, although there were many new graves along their route. They were also in constant danger from the Indians, but were not attacked. Joseph Prouty, a son of the family. now
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deceased, emigrated to California the year previously. The widow and her three sons, after witnessing the burial of husband and father on the plains, proceeded on their way to the Pacific slope, arriving at Volcano on the 24th of August, 1852, after a journey of four months and four days. Mrs. Prouty's capital amounted to a few hundred dollars.
The subject of this review, then only fifteen years of age, began work as the driver of a mule and cart used in hanling mining dirt. He was to receive two dollars per day in compensation for his services. Another duty was assigned him,-that of riding the baby in a cart, and Mr. Prouty thought it good pay for such light work. His mother opened a bakery and he also engaged in peddling pies and cakes to the miners : but, believing that the mining settlement was not a good place to rear her boys, she removed to Dry Creek, where she purchased a squatter's claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land There was a little cabin on the place and a brush fence had been built around a portion of the land. There, under the guidance of their mother, the sons engaged in farming for ten years, until the land was taken from them on the ground that it was a part of the Pico land grant. All of the brave pioneers who had aided in reclaiming the wild tract for purposes of civilization were thus dispossessed and were forced to begin life anew. Mrs. Pronty took up other land and resided with her son, C. C. Prouty, until called to her home beyond. in 1873. when in her eightieth year. She was a brave pioneer woman, courageous and determined, to whom great credit is due for the noble way in which she met difficulties and reared her children. Such women had marked influence in California in those early days, being largely instrumental in awak- ening better manhood among the men who sought fortune in the west.
In 1858 William H. Prouty returned to the east, where he remained for five years, his attention being devoted to farming interests in Iowa. It was during that time, in the year 1859, that he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Helen Charlesworth, a native of Maryland and a daughter of Solomon Charlesworth, who was born in England. In lowa their home was blessed by the presence of two children, namely: Madora and Austin Lee. In 1863 Mr. Prouty returned to California, by the water route, crossing the isthmus of Panama. He took passage on a ship loaded with ammunition and off Cape Hatteras they encountered a severe storm, which necessitated throwing over- board the entire cargo. In the midst of the storm the captain attempted to put the ship about, and when in the trough of the sea two great waves went over her and all on board felt that they were lost ; but fortunately they were not engulfed and weathered the storm. The next day, when the sailors said the storm was over, Mr. Prouty was permitted to go on deck, but the great waves were even then running "mountain" high. Thus twice he and his loved ones looked death in the face .- once when they were crossing the plains and once upon the water.
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